Chicago Bears star quarterback Justin Fields has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons of late. The 24-year-old has left a lot to be desired in his first two games of the season — back-to-back losses to the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and he now seems to have criticized Chicago’s coaching staff with a recent jab.
Did Justin Fields Criticize Chicago Bears HC Matt Eberflus?
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Fields admitted that he just hasn’t been playing “like himself.” According to the former Ohio State standout, he’s been “robotic” on the field, which is a pretty interesting way of describing his lackluster performances through the first two weeks of the new season.
When asked by reporters what he meant by being “robotic,” Fields appeared to have pointed his finger at head coach Matt Eberflus. According to the young quarterback, his poor play may have been brought about by “coaching.”
Naturally, Fields’ controversial comments took a life on its own. Most folks believe that the QB was taking a direct shot at his coach. In truth, you can’t really blame them for thinking the same.
Justin Fields Clarifies Earlier Comment
It didn’t take long for Fields to feel the backlash of his quote, which apparently, was completely taken out of context — at least according to the Bears star. Fields had another chance to speak to the press after Wednesday’s practice, and he decided to call them out for supposedly twisting his words:
“When you take my quote out of context, when you just say that, if you just paint the picture from the inside out, y’all are trying to split us up as a team,” Fields said. “I’m not blaming anything on the coaches. I’m never gonna blame anything on the coaches. I’m never gonna blame anything on my teammates. Whatever happens in the game, I will take all the blame. I don’t care. If it’s a dropped pass, it should have been a pass. Put it on me. Never will you hear anything come out of my mouth to where I will blame it on somebody else, on this organization, my teammates, never will you hear that.”
Well, Fields did imply that “coaching” may have played a significant role in his poor play. He is adamant, however, that he wasn’t pinning the blame on anyone, especially head coach Matt Eberflus.
Fields then backtracked a bit by saying that he should have made himself clearer. He ended his tirade by showing his appreciation to the media and making sure that this brouhaha does not impact his relationship with them:
“So I just wanna clear that up. Just know that I need to play better. That’s it. Point blank,” he continued. “That’s what I should have said in the first place, but I was trying to give y’all more details because I appreciate y’all what y’all do, and I try to give y’all all the information y’all want. So I’m gonna do that in the future, but I ask you guys to put the whole quote out. Don’t cut it up to words an pieces to make it seem like I’m saying something that I’m not.”
"I'm not blaming anything on the coaches. … I need to play better."
Justin Fields says he's taking all the blame for any mistakes happening on the field 💯
(via @KRoseSharkey)pic.twitter.com/evqUikFf4b
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 20, 2023
Justin Fields has done his best to apply some damage control here by completely playing down his earlier statement. This is definitely going to appease this situation a bit, but you can be sure that this issue isn’t going to go away anytime soon.
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @WiSportsHeroics. Also, check out our Merchandise Here! Get 20% off with the code “WSH.” You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at pao.songco@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here! Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers.
